I only saw the end of the game, but Beilein being such a hot-tempered problem maker is another reason why UCLA should avoid him like the plague. Ejected in this game, ejected previously about 40 years ago in another game - it's definitely a pattern.

I don't buy officiating conspiracies, but I do have to share this item that is circulating. Michigan is 22-3 overall this year. They are 1-3 in games officiated by this crew (a win in the season opener against Norfolk State).

Beilein would not elaborate on what led to the ejection, but assistant coach Saddi Washington, who filled in for Beilein in the second half of an eventual 79-65 loss to the Big Ten’s last-place team, provided some clarification.

Beilein was upset about a screen that sent Michigan’s Zavier Simpson to the floor on the final possession of the half. There was no whistle, and Penn State scored a layup just before the buzzer to take a 40-27 lead.

“It was one of those bang-bang things,” Washington said. “I thought (Simpson) did a good job of guarding their guy. That call could have went either way if it was an illegal screen. They didn’t call it, they scored, and then what happened happened.

I only saw the end of the game, but Beilein being such a hot-tempered problem maker is another reason why UCLA should avoid him like the plague. Ejected in this game, ejected previously about 40 years ago in another game - it's definitely a pattern.

I don't buy officiating conspiracies, but I do have to share this item that is circulating. Michigan is 22-3 overall this year. They are 1-3 in games officiated by this crew (a win in the season opener against Norfolk State).

I didn't realize it was the same crew but I remember being underwhelmed with the officials in the Iowa game. I remember thinking they were a little biased possibly but mostly they sucked big time.

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” - H.L. Mencken

I only saw the end of the game, but Beilein being such a hot-tempered problem maker is another reason why UCLA should avoid him like the plague. Ejected in this game, ejected previously about 40 years ago in another game - it's definitely a pattern.

I don't buy officiating conspiracies, but I do have to share this item that is circulating. Michigan is 22-3 overall this year. They are 1-3 in games officiated by this crew (a win in the season opener against Norfolk State).

I didn't realize it was the same crew but I remember being underwhelmed with the officials in the Iowa game. I remember thinking they were a little biased possibly but mostly they sucked big time.

I think it's more likely a combination of coincidence and just generally bad officials than anything more nefarious. Michigan always has trouble at the Kohl Center (Beilein is something like 2-15 there). Iowa plays a zone defense, and Michigan's not a good enough shooting team to shoot over the zone. I can't explain last night, though.

I did see a tweet from someone who covers Indiana basketball saying he understood how Beilein could get ejected when he saw who the officials were, so more than just Michigan fans are down on this crew.

In other news, UCLA managed to blow a 22-point second half lead to Utah over the weekend (congrats Skiny!), but then Louisville stepped up and said, "Hold my beer"

Louisville was more panicked in the last 9 minutes of that game than any team I've ever seen at any level. Duke is damn good team, but Louisville gave up 36 points in the last 9 minutes of play. How is that even possible??? If they had just held the ball and got a shotclock violation on every possession, they would have won that game.

A 2017 phone conversation intercepted by the FBI between LSU coach Will Wade and basketball middleman Christian Dawkins features Wade speaking freely about a “strong-ass offer” he made in the recruitment of a prospect, Yahoo Sports has learned.

On part of the call, Wade expresses frustration that a third party affiliated with the recruitment had yet to accept Wade’s “offer.” Instead, a verbal commitment to LSU was being delayed because Wade theorized he hadn’t given the third party a big “enough piece of the pie in the deal” and instead “tilted” the offer toward the player and his mother.

“I was thinking last night on this Smart thing,” Wade said. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m [expletive] tired of dealing with the thing. Like I’m just [expletive] sick of dealing with the [expletive]. Like, this should not be that [expletive] complicated.”

There is no elaboration on what the “Smart thing” is. Javonte Smart is currently a freshman guard at LSU and formerly a top-50 recruit from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

On a more fun note, what about Zavier Simpson's hook shot? Dude is reported to be 6 foot even (and programs never exaggerate the height of players), yet he's weaponized a hook shot against much taller competition.

Video in action:

The announcers laugh every time he hits it, and I admit that I do to. It's crazy.

On a more fun note, what about Zavier Simpson's hook shot? Dude is reported to be 6 foot even (and programs never exaggerate the height of players), yet he's weaponized a hook shot against much taller competition.

Video in action:

The announcers laugh every time he hits it, and I admit that I do to. It's crazy.

We had him on our Tourney fantasy team last year (along with Mo Wagner).

If he could only shoot 3's, they would be SO much better. He's fantastic at everything else...

There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Michigan just needs someone - anyone - to consistently hit threes. Brazdeikis and Poole have their moments, but they also go cold. I don't think Simpson is ever going to be a consistent 3 point shooter, but he's got one more year to try.

Mark Gottfried, formerly at NC State, has now been directly implicated in paying players. An assistant coach said Gottfried gave him two envelopes, presumably filled with cash, to pass along to Dennis Smith Jr.’s trainer. We already knew that DSJ had been paid, and it’s not surprising that Gottfried was involved - he always struck me as pretty slimy.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:Mark Gottfried, formerly at NC State, has now been directly implicated in paying players. An assistant coach said Gottfried gave him two envelopes, presumably filled with cash, to pass along to Dennis Smith Jr.’s trainer. We already knew that DSJ had been paid, and it’s not surprising that Gottfried was involved - he always struck me as pretty slimy.

He was an assistant on our last championship team under Harrick.

There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Through no fault of his own, I have never been as sick of a single basketball player as I am of Zion Williamson. During every single Duke game this year, the ESPN app pushes me at least 6 updates specifically around what Zion is doing that night. "See Zion's amazing spin move" or "Zion with 12 as Duke leads at halftime" or "Watch Zion with a vicious dunk". I got 8 updates during last night's game, every one of them them about Zion. Yes, I get that the dude is really good. But the way ESPN is actively pushing every single little thing he does, you'd think he was literally the only player playing college hoops this year. I'd be perfectly fine to never hear his name again.

Oh, and Utah's season came to a merciful end last night with yet another loss to Oregon. Altman absolutely just owns our Coach K. I really think we're going to have to start looking into a coaching change. Kryskowiak is one of the top 10 highest paid coaches in the country, and the on-court results simply aren't there year after year.

Carolina has a pretty rough bracket: potentially Kansas in Kansas City and then Kentucky to make the Final Four. Virginia and Gonzaga have pretty easy brackets, but I'm not sold of Gonzaga this year. Duke's bracket is easy until the Elite Eight when they might have to play MSU. According the committee, MSU was the top ranked 2 seed, so seems weird to have them in the same bracket with the top ranked 1 seed.

On a side note, Saint Louis University (where I work) managed to get into the tournament with an unexpected Atlantic 10 conference championship. They have to play Virginia Tech in the first round, so I don't expect them to go far, but it should be a fun campus the next few days.